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AOSP isn't dead, but Google just landed a huge blow to custom ROM developers
Google has confirmed it isn't discontinuing AOSP, but it's making a change that makes it harder for devs to build Android for Pixel phones.
As Seang Chau notes, “AOSP was built on the foundation of being an open platform for device implementations, SoC vendors, and instruction set architectures.” In that regard, Cuttlefish is a more appropriate reference target because it isn’t a heavily customized piece of consumer hardware like a Pixel phone. The Pixel’s kernel source code was often used as a “reference point for other devices to take features, bug fixes, and security patches from,” but with the history now reduced to a single commit, this is no longer feasible. The silver lining is that Pixels remain super easy to bootloader unlock and grab factory images for, but this will definitely increase the work needed to be done by developers for a stable custom ROM experience.
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